Portal Redirect
by ShadowPhoenix101
Summary: One uncontained ember can burn it all down.


_So it's Friday the 13th, there's a full moon tonight, and there's solar flares happening on the sun today, which means it's the perfect time to upload a fanfic (or at least a single chapter) because of circumstances that nobody will probably remember and/or care about in the future even if they seem vaguely significant now. It's a great day to be alive!_

_Now that we have that rambling out of the way, I figure I should point this out: __this fanfic won't end__. I came up with it back when I knew I couldn't write anything without skipping to the climax, so having no end was a way to keep it, well...less skip-ish. After I got better at writing, this mindworld plotwhatever had festered to the point where an ending would seem too abrupt (or maybe it's just me?). It works as a boredom read or a pity read, but if you're looking for something with a defined ending rather than a bunch of plot threads glued together, well...yeah._

_Not only is it long, it's also a multicrossover crossed with original fiction. It just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it?_

_Also, PLEASE TEAR THIS THING APART WITH CRITICISM AND CRITIQUE IT HAS SO MUCH POTENTIAL TO BE HORRIBLE GGHHHH_

* * *

I don't remember the exact date when this all started. I mean, I know it was in December, yes, but I don't remember the exact _date_. You know, the number. The terms "Saturday" and "December 17" stick out, but I'm not sure if December 17 was even _on_ a Saturday. I don't have a calendar for 2011, so I really have no idea. I mean, it's probably around that general timeframe, but still…

I _do_ remember what happened, though. Of course, if I didn't remember what happened then I couldn't really tell you what happened so there wouldn't be anything to read, but…

…

…You probably want to get to what happened, don't you? Sorry about that.

If I remember anything it's - well, it's more of a "this place is always like this" thing than a "noteworthy event" thing, so it's kind of hard to forget. Not that there _wasn't_ a noteworthy event. It just isn't what I'm getting to first.

The hallways always seemed to be somewhat empty there.

There would occasionally be a big crowd of people, chattering absentmindedly and wandering off to the next hallway, but for the most part they were purely empty - save for that one group. It wasn't some small, organized, has-a-purpose group. It was mostly just a roster (for lack of a better word) of moderately eccentric denizens from the other perpendicular universe. Sometimes they visited, sometimes they didn't. Sometimes they explored, sometimes they wandered. Sometimes there were a few people, sometimes there was a big group - to be fair, though, the only times they came _en masse_ was when they were going to see a movie. This place showed movies sometimes.

I don't know if most malls were like this - with the hallways going from empty to full and back to empty again - or if it was simply related to the bizarre nature of this place overall, but what I _do_ know is that it worked that way. Well, works. It's still there. Oh, and so is the movie theater. I forgot to mention that, I guess…

There was a group there that day. Well, of course there _had_ to be one, because…well, I suppose just one person could go there alone, but that rarely happens, so…

…I should probably just…get on with this. Yeah…

* * *

"So who do I sound like?"

A vaguely indigo-and-magenta-colored dragon turns to peer at the other, a blue one with kind of huge feathery wings and a forehead horn. "I dunno."

The second, Whirlwind, frowns a little, her ears perking down. "Oh. Okay…"

"And _me_?" A light blue, short, wingless dragon (which I'm pointing out because most people automatically picture dragons with wings, I guess) waddle-walked (or something?) next to the others.

The purple-ish one, Cynder, rolls her eyes. "The thing from the one cartoon. Turnerbutt. You know, Tara Whatshername?"

"I. DO. NOT. SOUND. LIKE. A. WOMAN."

"No, Zap doesn't sound like that," Whirlwind says half-quietly/nonchalantly. "I mean, he doesn't sound woman-y, he sounds like woman-y-ness that sounds like higher-pitched, uh, kid-ish stuff, except kind of deeper than the kid stuff. Or something."

Zap mutters something to himself and walks faster, going ahead of the group.

"Uh…" A brown-footed, dull green dragon with blue-colored, gold-streaked armor (top-of-head helmet, wings, tail, and back) watches Zap leave, apparently confused.

"Ooh! Ooh! Uh…Drobot, I think you sound like this one guy!" Whirlwind chirps.

"How informative," Cynder mutters.

Drobot looks over at Whirlwind, a bit uneasy. "Who?"

"That, uh…that guy from the one thing where it's really hard to understand and stuff. Because, you know, you have that robot-y voice thingy. And stuff."

"You mean Malefuck?" Cynder says (asks?) in some sort of sarcastic way.

Whirlwind frowns again. "No, it's 'Ma-le-_for'_, not 'Ma-le-_fuck_'."

There was an awkward pause.

"…Oh."

"Yeah. _Oh_."

"So what's _his_ 'voice actor'?" Drobot asks, apparently sort of confused.

"Uh…Mark Ham?" Whirlwind responds, also looking faintly confused.

"Mark Hamill," says a green, red-footed, yellow-horn-covered, wingless, not-apparently-confused dragon.

"Oh. Oh yeah." She pauses again. "So…how does he have a voice actor? Isn't he a real person thingy?"

"We have a fucking toy line we didn't know about. This world fucks with everyone," Cynder responds.

"You kind of swear a lot."

"Shut up."

Whirlwind stands there for a few seconds, looking at the floor, while Cynder stares at her with an irritated look. "...Who does Camo sound like?" she finally asks, gesturing towards the green dragon.

Cynder looks over at Camo, squinting. "That's easy. Zim."

"_What?!_" he spits out.

I perk up, recognizing the name.

"Yyyyep." Cynder walks off, while Camo just stands there. Whirlwind and Drobot pause; Drobot slowly follows, while Whirlwind also starts walking again, albeit with her head turned around.

"So who do I sound like?" asks yet another dragon-y…thingy.

That's me, by the way.

"How do I sound like Zim?!"

That's not me.

"Well, there's the yelling."

I hear a thud, and turn my head around, only to see Whirlwind dizzily stumbling away from a wall she presumably just bumped into.

"Doesn't he also sound like Kaos?" Drobot asks.

Cynder stares at Drobot, then grunts and heads off again.

"Guys?"

That's me again.

Drobot and Camo keep walking, while I trail behind.

"So…you sound like that Malefor guy, eh?"

"Uh…I guess."

"Wasn't he a big jerk?"

"Understatement," comes a voice from down the hall.

"Guys?"

Drobot turns around to look at me. "Sunburn, we were having a conversation."

"Oh." I look down at my feet for a moment. "So, uh…who do you think I sound like?" I ask, offering a faint weak smile.

Drobot stares at me, while Camo squints and says something. "I'd say…probably that half-guy from that ghost show."

"'Ghost show'?"

"Or maybe that guy who made the aliens show."

Drobot looks over at Camo. "The one with 'Zim'?"

"…Yes."

I look up. "Wait…so you mean Jhonen, right?"

"10% Jhonen, yeah."

"The square root of rope is string," Whirlwind mutters in a manly voice, as she spins around and falls face-first on the floor with a thud.

Drobot looks ahead and sighs. He walks over to Whirlwind, then drags her along. Camo watches, then follows them as they round the corner.

"…Hey, didn't that Ham guy also voice some famous movie thing or something?" he asks, looking at Drobot.

"Guys?"

Neither one seems to hear me.

I give a little sigh of my own and stare down at my feet again, pawing the floor with one of them. Sometimes I'm not sure why I follow them around. I'm not saying they're one of those stereotypical 'bad crowds' where everyone's smoking pot and getting drunk on the weekends and having sex with everyone else and getting alien herpes like there's no tomorrow. I'm not trying to angst, either. It's just that they don't seem to notice me much. I mean, Whirlwind seems friendly, but…I'm not sure how to describe it, other than that it just seems…_off_ somehow.

I look around at the walls of the mall-like hallway. They look clean, maybe sterile (or maybe not, considering that this place is…fairly bizarre), just a little bit shiny. The walls, floor, and slightly curved ceiling are all white. Some parts of the side walls seem to be a light gray, although not from magic rust or alien blood stains or anything like that. The walls have a few vertical grooves in them, set out in a pattern, while the floor…I can't tell if the faint tile pattern is just visible or if it's actually a groove.

I gently drag a single claw along one of the lines, then move it side to side ever so slightly. From what I can tell, it's a groove. So there's that.

I take in a breath, my thoughts wandering to other places. After a moment, I turn around and slowly begin walking back in the direction that I came from.

The sides of the hallway have a few doors, some with glass windows, showing a glimpse of what lies inside. Some look like stores, others look like, well…something else, I guess. There's even at least one alleyway-style dead-end hallway that I pass by, with its own door at the end.

It was then that I heard a loud thud.

Not like the little thuds earlier, but louder, like more of a bang. Curious and slightly at unease, I quietly half-run towards the corner, then peer around the edge.

There's a tall, beige, quadruped dragon-like thing standing in the middle of the hallway. Their eyes look gray, and their head has a tall frill that goes all the way to the base of the neck. Two horns come out of the head, with moderately long ears underneath them. The whole figure stood at about ten to eleven feet tall - from what I can guess, at least.

I recognize him from pictures and conversations back in the hub-verse. Eredwyn. From what I've heard, he's a psychopath with an unintentionally feminine name - although I don't know if he's a clinical psychopath or if the hub-verse denizens just decided to call him a psychopath because they thought he acted like a psychopath.

He smirks, head raised slightly in some sort of proud manner, then bends down.

I look down as well and feel my heart skip a beat.

There's a figure - a human - lying on the floor, not too far from Eredwyn's hands/feet/forepaws(?). They look to be about ten or eleven (or twelve?); they have pitch-black hair, styled in the shape of a scythe; they're wearing a black trenchcoat, boots, and pants, along with a blue shirt with a gray face on it; their skin is a very pale beige; the shape of their head is fairly angular, and they're wearing glasses (although I'm not sure how they stay on, due to the lack of those side-bar thingies).

_I know who that is._

Eredwyn picks up the all-too-familiar kid with his mouth, then struts off down the hallway, turning near the corner to the left and disappearing behind it.

Numerous thoughts racing through my head, I follow as quietly as I can, staying close to the wall on the right. Silently dashing over to the opposite wall, I peer my head around the corner he went past; I can see him heading down the long hallway that leads to the big joining section near the Tall-Story Fall. I feel bile raise in the back of my throat. It's a long, empty, straight hallway; he's going to see me when I'm out in the open. Starting to panic slightly, I watch as he walks down the hallway, head raised proudly, as if displaying some sort of trophy (although I can't help but notice how the kid's head throws his balance off). I know the path to the left leads to a dead end, so he'll take either the path ahead or the one to the right. The front path leads straight to the TSF; if he takes the right…

My eyes home in on Eredwyn as he approaches the very center of the plus-shaped intersection. I let out a sigh of relief as he keeps going straight; I know I won't lose him in the rest of the mall. At the same time, I begin to feel sick again - the TSF is a 100,000-meter-tall shaft, with this hallway attaching to it straight in the middle.

(For those of you who hate math, that's 50,000 meters up and 50,000 meters down.)

I honestly don't know where he'd go in a vertical shaft. Unless…

Triggered by the fear of a worst-case scenario, I abandon any and all caution and dash down the hallway as silently as I can, my feet curved slightly so my claws won't make any conspicuous _click_ noises. I swerve to avoid toppling over the railway surrounding the middle-of-the-hall gap (this being one of the few hallways to have one), then swerve back as I approach the TSF's door. I skid to a stop, a few feet away from a railing.

I walk over to the large square gap and peer down into the abyss.

The sterile-looking white shaft descends down into what looks from here to be some sort of infinity. Try as I might, I can't spot any steadily-shrinking black dots. I raise my head, worried and confused. Slowly, through faint curiosity and…some other thing, I look up towards the top of the shaft.

Something catches my eye.

I turn to the left and take a few steps backward, then squint slightly. My eyes widen as I realize what it is, wondering if this is the right place.

It's a door. It's a door and it's wide open.

Not willing to waste any time, I spread my wings and flap them, hovering up to the door's level four floors above. Once high enough, I glide over, grabbing the railing and jumping onto the floor. I nudge the door with my head, then slink into the dark and narrow hallway within.

I grunt faintly as my head bumps into a wall. Feeling around, I head to the wall's left, find a corner, then head to the right and find another corner - one that turns towards another hallway. I head along the new wall, until I bump into another…one that creaks open slightly.

Noticing the small sliver of light, I slowly open the door the rest of the way.

As I stick my head out of the opening, the first thing I can see is what looks like a giant, glowing yellow wall. Squinting, I can make out what looks like a thin, vertical vein along the middle. Slowly, I slide out from behind the door and walk towards the wall.

As I look around, I can make out that the room, made of some sort of dark, dull blue stone, resembles some sort of sideways H, with two pseudo-barriers of stone effectively splitting the room in half. I look forward, realizing that the glowing wall in the distance isn't even a wall.

It's a cylinder.

A cylinder, stretching from the floor to the ceiling, almost thirty feet high.

I take a few tentative steps forward, noticing what looks like a long, thin vein, stretching from the bottom of the cylinder towards the top. My eyes drift upwards, and I see a mostly-black silhouette in the center, wires spreading from this centerpoint to the sides.

I tilt my head, thinking, then look around, trying to see if there's an opening switch or device anywhere. To the left, in the open space closer to the door, I see some sort of metal pedestal, just barely visible in the darkness. I squint, trying to make out what it is, but it's just too dark to tell. I don't have any non-audible means of making light, fire could damage/trigger something, and light could possibly give away my presence anyway.

Starting to grow unnerved, I look to the right, seeing absolutely nothing. I walk forward, looking in the other two open spaces. Nothing.

My eyes drift back to the cylinder, aimed right at the person in the center.

_I won't be able to break this._

I take a few steps back, then turn and dash for the door, heading to get help. As I pass the wall gap, something grabs me by the neck, the rest of my body slinging forward.

"Lost, are we?"

I squawk and try to teleport away, only to get a spray of sparks and a splitting headache.

"Lovely, isn't it? It's the…anti-magic field." The arm moves, turning me so I can see the figure. "Not that I knew you'd be coming here. We just happened to get lucky."

I squirmed, glaring at the dull, gray eyes. "Either you're a pedophile or you're using the word 'we' wrong."

"I have no interest in sexual relations," he says dully. "However, I _do_ know what's in that tube over there." He turns me again so I can see the cylinder. "Do you see that?"

"It's hard not to."

He pauses for a moment. "…Well, I happened to find this little human, and now that I've caught…him, or her, or them, or whatever, I plan to do various things with them. But that's not important." Eredwyn turns around, pointing me straight at the obscured pedestal. "Now, the last bloke who ran this room had the clever idea of turning little things like mice and sparrows into copies of some sort of…_thing_ he had locked up. Got killed, he did, but he got it to work."

Eredwyn walks over to the pedestal, whacking a part of the floor with his tail. Instantly, the part lights up, revealing it to be a round orange button, and various parts of the pedestal proceed to light up as well. He backs up a few feet, watching as an ethereal orange mass begins to form in the air above it. I flail in desperation, only for him to whip me in the head with his tail.

"At first I thought, why don't I use it to make more humans to do things with? But then I got a better idea. I came up with it…a few seconds ago, but it's still a…_promising_ concept."

He turns me so that I'm looking straight at him, his face covered in an eerie grin.

"How would you like to live someone else's life?"

After a moment, he slings his arm back, as if about to throw me. I dig my claws into his arm, and he lets out a cry, dropping me to the floor. After scrambling to regain my footing, I flap my wings wildly, flying up towards the ceiling, desperately scanning the room below for an exit.

"Oh, no you don't!"

I bolt for the doorway, only for Eredwyn to slam himself in front of it. I swerve to the left, nearly slamming into the ceiling, and ram into the short side of the left barrier. Stunned, I stay aloft for a moment, as if glued to the wall, before slipping and falling down to the darkness below.

Flapping my wings desperately, I manage to shoot past Eredwyn, who swipes at me with one arm. I curve in a U-shape towards the cylinder, and beat my wings against the air in an attempt to slow down. I hold my arms out in front of myself, bracing for impact, and cringe as I slam into the hard, thick glass. Clawing at the screen and weakly managing to hover, for a brief moment I see the kid inside barely open his eyes, his half-dead irises focusing on me.

I cry out, trying to get another response, then scream as a bullet tears though my wing and sends me plummeting down.

Eredwyn's hand grabs me by the neck before I hit the floor, and I choke, barely able to breathe. He takes an awkward step towards the pedestal, then swings his arm back and throws me at full force.

I barely have time to react before I hit the portal.

* * *

Everything's black.

Ivory black.

Flashes of pink scattered throughout.

Lines are beginning to shoot by, tearing through the void like arcane comets.

The numbness starts to fade, and my awareness gradually clears. I can feel myself shooting through both something and nothing, with both silence and faint static echoing and fading away.

The void flashes.

Blinded by the light, I scream as something tears through my body, both pulling me apart and putting me back together. I feel my spine burn away, my limbs tangled and mauled by forces unknown, my head exploding at the speed of light. Space seems to twist itself more and more around me, hurtling forward faster and faster, tearing a hole in nothingness and destroying whatever exists.

Everything stops.

* * *

I hear a deafening explosion, and slam into a wall as the lights go out, sinking through like a stone. The gurgling and monstrous crashing of the darkness fades in to reality, and my eyes widen as the substance lurches me around, the shadows dancing with the faint blue beams of lights. I jerk my limbs around, trying to get myself closer to the surface. Another light beam shines down, and my eyes shoot upwards while it fades, managing to spot where it was brightest. I swim upwards, thrown around by the tumultuous waves, until my head finally breaks the surface.

I gasp for breath, struggling to stay afloat, before the water surges below me, raising me towards the sky, then throws me towards a dark mass.

I hit a stone wall, then fall, landing hard on the sand below. I weakly raise my head, coughing as the water continues to surge in, then let it fall as my world goes to black.


End file.
